I really love the attention to detail you have! Like the condensation on the inside of Tali's helmet, amazing! And that's totally because she is crying tears of joy right? Because Shepard just got back to her and they are going to build themselves a home on the home-world and THAT IS TOTALLY HOW MASS EFFECT 3 ENDS! I AM NOT LISTENING TO ANY OTHER ARGUMENTS ANYONE PUTS FORTH!!!

Stunning work! Such an emotional and powerful picture! I can easily picture this taking place just after the scene where she refuses to put Shepard's name on the Memorial; then, Traynor notifies the crew about an incoming message from Ackett, stating that the Commander has just been found among the ruins of Citadel's Control Centre...still alive! And Tali collapses to the ground , crying, due to sheer happiness, joy and pent-up emotions. Of course, he will be in critical conditions, with severe injuries, probably in coma...but he is The Goddamn Commander Shepard, and he has got a promise to fulfill and an home to build; so, he will recover completely in a few months...and she will be there by his side.

And the best part about this? It is not an head-canon. It is simply what really happens in the game, as confirmed by the developers themselves.

Wow, thanksWhen i wanted to draw this piece, i've try to consider a turmoil or confusion inside Tali's head. She's a very interessant character, with true and strong charisma (this physic, this voice… whether French or original, brrrrr… )But, this love for Shepard is really bigger, almost scary, isn't it ? . Several times in ME3, it confirms assiduously.Now, considering the end, I do not see how Shepard can escape his fate in the catalyst, whatever the chosen end.Indeed, this drawing is for me, the logical end of the "destruction", as in the kinematics or Tali hesitate to put the plaque. Maybe, Shepard would be alive (with the sigh of the final sequence ) ... I do not know.It's hard to leave our hero like that, hanging out in the smoking ruins of the citadel, but it's "logic". This is what I tried to transcribe, sadness, heavy and deep, but surely no hope, alas!

Well, why should Shepard be necessarily dead after choosing the Destruction option (if you have the right premises, of course)? Let's see some of the reasons of his survival.A: EMS and collateral damage. The Military Strenght rapresents both techologic breaktroughts integrated in the Crucible and the allied forces' ability to protect it during its transport towards the Citadel. Therefore,having an high EMS value means it doesn't take much structural damage and it is able to control the generated power surge with higher efficency. So, if the EMS is high enough, its activation causes only minor damage to the station as whole and to the surrounding area where Shepard is.B: Implants. The Commander's implants and genetic/cybernetic augmentations give him a very higher resilience and ability of recovery than an average human body; for example, he was able to stand the recoil of an unmodified Widow rifle and, during the Suicide Mission in the Collectors' base, survived when a platform with a weight of several tons crashed right on to him.C: Rescue. Admiral Ackett knew that Shepard was on the Citadel, as well as his location until the end of the confrontation with The Illusive Man. We can safely assume that his first decision after the passing of the energy pulse was to send search & rescue teams in the area to find him and Anderson. After they reach the Control Room, they only have to follow the shaft trought which Shepard was transported to the Catalyst.

Said this, I'm sorry to have made you think that I misunderstand your wonderful artwork. I simply preferred to think that this desperation was only a fleeting moment, which would have made the subsequent joy from the good news even bigger.

And yes, you are completely right. Tali has truly got a rich and strong personality, masterfully expressed trought her particular voice (I have only played the game in Italian, so I must believe you about the french version). And it's good, after she was so nervous about her relationship and importance for Shepard in MA2, to see her more secure and conscious about it. It feels...right.

I think I need to bring up a few points here, since I think you missed something.

1. Though true the crucible did not take damage, Shepard was on the citadel when it fired. The citadel being a mass relay, was utterly damaged and most of the citadel would be a navigational nightmare on foot.

2. All starships were unable to function due to an EMP effect that was a side effect of the crucible firing. No rescue craft could be sent to see if Shepard survived.

3. In the one ending choice that Shepard lives, the energy released destroys all advanced technology, so no one could even remotely get to the wreckage of the citadel in time to get Shepard immediate medical attention.

Sorry for the late reply.Well, let's see.1. This is indeed true. However, we can safely assume that a simple localization/emergency beacon would be standard-issue for every special-forces operative, and I deeply doubt that they would even allow someone important like Shepard to go out in the field without at least such precaution. Moreover, the Alliance High Command (namely Hackett) has always had a functional communication channel with the Commander and always stayed in contact with him/her AT LEAST until the encounter with the Catalyst. So, they are able to pinpoint his/her general location with relative ease, and the beacon would help them further.

2. I'm sorry, but this is completely untrue. There isn't a single moment during the final cutscenes in whihch we see something similar affecting the fleets. The only vessel we watch reacting to the energy wave is the Normandy . In this case, we must remember that the phenomenon reaches the ship while it is in the middle of its most vulnerable status, the FTL flight. Seeing later the nearly absolute lack of structural damage (and, later again, the perfect takeoff), it is clear that the temporary overload of its eezo core is the only reason of its forced landing, while no critical system (besides EDI's ones, alas) has been compromised.

Moreover, the ships of the allied fleets are explicitly showed approaching the battered Citadel just after the wave has faded and the "regrouping signal" has been given.

3. I don't understand what you exactly mean with "all advanced technology", but if the Crucible were actually so pervasive and uncontrolled in its action, the entire allied fleet would be wiped out in minutes since even the most basic and vital systems, from power generation to heat management to oxygen recycling, would be suddendly and irreparably wrecked. Shepard itself would be surely killed on spot, since the pervasive cybernetic implants needed for its continued existence would become nothing but junk.We see that both the fleet and Shepard survive the activation, so this is clearly not the case.

All right. To clarify a few points. One the fact the fleet is able to function after the Crucible fires, is likely the result of choosing the control option or the synthesis option. But with the option to destroy the fleets suffer a EMP like effect, due to the destruction of advanced technology.To define advanced technology, I basically mean anything from synthetic life to the mass relays and reapers. And to point out the survival of the Normandy, the ship had made a jump through a mass relay, it was not in FTL flight solely. That's is the only possible way the Normandy survived and out ran it so effectively. Though the eezo core may only suffered a overload in the control and synthesis options, the sheer physical damage to the ship can not be ignore. And to touch your emergency beacon theory, it like would have been fried when Harbinger hit Shepard, considering he had close to nothing in terms of armor after that hit. And even though Shepard has cybernetics, he doesn't need them much as you think. As with destroy option, there is a moment that is showing ,if you had the resources, showing Shepard had survived the incident, but only barely. The Lazarus project that brought Shepard back, was mainly reconstruction, not cybernetics.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong. I have just finished today my last playthrough and I can assure you that, in the Destroy option with 7000+ EMS (and the Extended Cut, of course), not a single ship of the allied fleets shows any hints of being crippled or incapacitated by the Crucible's emanation. As I have already written, the cutscenes show them coming back to Hearth just after the wave faded, with several vessels (precisely 1 Asari dreadnought, 2 Turian fregates/cruisers and 2/4 Human mixed ships) approaching the damaged Citadel.

This is a different matter without any connection with the fleets status. Anyway, the Mass Relays are NOT destroyed (with EMS so much high) but, as Hackett himself explains, only damaged. Moreover, the technological gap between the only two forms of truly synthetic life we know (EDI and the Geth) and the Catalyst's creations is so significant we can't consider them as a single class of "advanced technology"; the only reason they are sadly affected by the Crucible is probably the integration inside their systems of tiny but significant pieces of Reaper technology (hardware for EDI and software for Geth).

Actually, the Normandy is never seen making a jump through a Relay; at the contrary, it is nearly certain that the ship doesn't use it to retreat, just like all the other vessels. This is due to a simple fact: there is only one single Mass Relay in the Sol System, while the sheer number of starships (and we should consider their collective mass, too)of the allied fleets is at least equal, if not far superior, to the one of the Migrant Fleet. Therefore, it would take entire weeks, if not mounths, to safely organize and enact the transition through the Charon Relay. Hence, every ship have to leave the System by conventional FTL until it reaches the "regroup point" mentioned by Hackett. For this reason, the Normandy DOESN'T outrun the wave, as shows by the sad fate of EDI.When we compare the various endings, we can see that the damage suffered by the SR2 in the very-high-EMS situation it's nothing compared to the other cases, only caused by the forced-landing on a surface with dense vegetation.

This is a possibility. But we must remember that the integrated communication system of the armored suit endures the same ordeal, yet it is still completely functional as the Commander remains in contact with both Anderson and Ackett. The same thing can happen with any possible emergency tracking system.

Well, Shepard was surely and utterly dead when the Broker found his corpse, while his body was nearly completely destroyed. Starting with such a wasted material, it would be necessary to employ extensive cybernetic augmentations not only in order to recreate life, but even to keep the newly operating systems and apparatuses balanced and stable. While under normal circumstances it would maybe be a manageable issue, the sudden shutting down of these implants in a critical situation like the Crucible activation would surely doom the Commander.My point is: since Shepard is surely ALIVE in this ending, this means that the Crucible didn't affect the (obviously) advanced technology of his implants at all, therefore it channels its destructive power towards more specific targets.

Hm. Well my only explanation is that the crucible effects Synthetic life in all it's forms. Though, massive the fleet was, the whole fleet sent to take earth did in fact jump through the relay at roughly the same time. And if you played Mass Effect one, or the other two if they explained space battles, the codex states that a space battle is concluded if the enemy is destroyed, OR the enemy jumps though a mass relay. It would have been impossible to out run the pulse without a mass relay. Also no life supporting systems are close enough to earth that you could make it to them with FTL flight. And with shepard's comms, the added destruction of the crucible and catalyst would have likely destroyed his comm link or radio, what ever they use. And in all likelyhood, he wouldn't have been able to call for help considering his condition.

Even if during the ending Destruction, we see an ultimate breath, and we see the tremble of the Dogtags. But I do not think that Shepard can recover from the destruction of the Citadel... maybe, or maybe not !Tali, is, for me, one of my favorite characters, she's really charismatic, and her story with his people is really an interesting subject. Beyond to appreciate Tali, This is the Quariens that interest me. I hope, maybe, Bioware will create a spin-off on the return of Tali in the flotilla and shed light on the mystery of the sun to Haestrom... why not ! Just an idea.

Yes, you're right ! The dark Matter is a assumption, not confirmed (Rumor who back from Talis Loyalty Quest)... wait and see. Maybe this is explain in the comics "Homeworld", the episode with Tali! In France, it's not arrived again (Like with James Vega also, grrrr !!!).Now, i wait the new DLC, whoever speaks of a Leviathan, i'm curious to play that. Funny to find this information inside the code of the "Extended Cut"